With inflation at record levels on top of already sky-high taxes and lower real wages, New Jerseyans are really feeling the pinch. Lately, it has become a whole lot more expensive to be the parent of an infant. Baby necessities are going up in price and grocery shelves are clearing out of baby formula.
Moreover, supply chain issues are plaguing new parents. Earlier this winter, the bottle liners for my son’s bottles went missing off store shelves and online. I ended up having to bid on them on eBay from California, before changing to all new bottles to avoid the challenge again.
As a new mother whose baby is solely drinking formula since I went back to work, it is concerning to walk through the baby aisle at my local supermarket and see the shelves mostly empty of baby formula. And it is not just a New Jersey problem. Forty to fifty percent of the major brands are sold out across the country, according to a recent analysis.
My husband and I have the last of our ready-to-use, shelf-stable formula at home and we check the local stores weekly, waiting for restocks. Powdered formula is hit or miss due to both the recent recalls and COVID-era supply chain issues going back to last year. Fortunately, a warehouse wholesaler in our area carries the powder tubs for now. However, I belong to several Facebook “mom” groups, where mothers are looking for specific kinds of formula for their babies with allergies or special dietary needs, only coming up empty.
Other household goods and family services are shooting up in price, too. According to the Independent Women’s Forum inflation tracker – daycare and preschool fees are up 3.6%, electric bills are up 11.1%, and the worst offender, gasoline, is up 48% over the past year. Inflation is a hidden tax, costing the average American household an extra $5,200 a year or $430 a month.
There is a better way. New Jerseyans should demand that Congress budget better and halt the wasteful spending, contributing to labor shortages and inflation at a forty-year all-time high. Separately, the New Jersey State Legislature can immediately index income taxes with inflation to avoid bracket creep.
Also, the United States can open up trade by lowering tariffs on formula, currently set at 17.5%; and reform restrictive quotas, which create a barrier to imports. Both the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the North America Free Trade Agreement limit the amount of formula Canada can export to the United States. With formula shortages worsened by recalls and prices going up and up, now is the time to allow more supply to flow in and meet the needs of working families.
Americans for Prosperity has launched a national campaign, “The True Cost of Washington”, to educate Americans about all the issues leading to inflation and supply chain challenges; and the needed policy solutions at www.TrueCostofWashington.com.
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Erica Jedynak is a Senior Advisor for Americans for Prosperity and a Morris County resident.
